Track and Field World Champions Quiz

Answer: Valeriy Brumel

Valeriy Brumel was a Soviet high jumper who held the high jump record from 1961 to 1971. His duels with the American John Thomas at the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics are legendary, and took place at the height of the Cold War. Thomas was favored both times, but Brumel nosed him out.

Answer: Bob Hayes

Bob Hayes was an American sprinter who held the world record from 1964 to 1968. After college, Hayes went on to have a very successful career in the National Football League with the Dallas Cowboys. Hayes was inducted into the pro football Hall of Fame in 2009, seven years after he died at age 59.

Answer: Parry O'Brien

Parry O'Brien held the world shot put record from 1953 to 1959. He competed in four Olympics, winning gold in 1952 and 1956, silver in 1960, and finishing fourth in 1964.

O'Brien pioneered a new method of throwing the shot put, starting with his back to the front of the circle and then turning 180 degrees. Using this method, he broke the world record an amazing 17 times! O'Brien died in 2007 at the age of 75.

Answer: Rafer Johnson

Johnson held the world record in the decathlon from 1958 to 1959, and again from 1960 to 1963. Johnson won the gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics, after which he retired.

Answer: Sebastian Coe

Sebastian Coe is an English runner who held the 800-meter world record from 1979 to 1997. Since retiring from running he has held many administrative and political posts; for example, he was chairman of the committee in charge of organizing the London 2012 Olympics. Also, he was a member of parliament from 1992 to 1997, and was granted a life peerage in 2000, making him a lifetime member of the House of Lords.

Answer: Sergey Bubka

Sergey Bubka is a Ukrainian athlete who held the world's pole vault record from 1984 to 1994. He broke the men's pole vault world record an incredible 35 times!

Answer: Carl Lewis

Carl Lewis was world chmapion in the long jump from 1981 to 1991. He was one of the top track and field athletes in history; in fact, Sports Illustrated magazine named him the "Olympian of the Century" as the 20th century came to a close.

At the 1984 Summer Olympics, Lewis matched the famous feat of Jesse Owens in 1936 by winning gold in four different track and field events. He is one of the rare athletes who have won a gold medal in four consecutive Olympic Games in the same event.

Answer: Haile Gebrselassie

Haile Gebrselassie is an Ethiopian runner who held the world record in the marathon from 2007 to 2011. Gebrselassie retired from competitive running in 2015 at the age of 42.

Answer: Al Oerter

Al Oerter was an American discus thrower who held the world record from 1962 till 1964. He was the first athlete to win a gold medal in four consecutive Olympics in the same event, as he won gold in the 1956 Melbourne games, the 1960 Rome games, the 1964 Tokyo games, and, finally, at Mexico City in 1968.

He attempted a comeback as the 1980 Olympics approached, but finished fourth and did not make the American team. Nevertheless, he set a new personal best at the age of 43! Oerter died in 2007 at the age of 71.

Answer: Tommie Smith

Tommie Smith held the world record in the 200-meter dash from 1966 to 1979. He and his teammate John Carlos became notorious in 1968 after giving the Black Power salute while on the medal podium at the Mexico City Olympics.

After retiring from competitive running, Smith obtained his Masters Degree in the social sciences, and has taught sociology and coached track at the college level. He also played briefly in the National Football League.

The iconic photo of Smith and Carlos giving the Balck Power salute has a third medal-winner in it, this being the Australian Peter Norman, who won the silver medal. Norman's story, while lesser-known than the other two, is a compelling one. He showed solidarity with Smith and Carlos by wearing a badge on his left breast that said "Olympic Project for Human Rights".

When he returned to Australia he was banned from athletics, and was refused a place on the Australian team for the 1972 Munich Olympics. When he passed away a broken man in 2006, Tommie Smith and John Carlos flew to Australia and gave eulogies and were pall bearers at his funeral. In 2012 the Australian Government finally issued an apology to the Norman family (6 years after his death) for the way he had been treated. A 2008 film, "Salute", tells the story of the Peter Norman saga. [My thanks to player zambesi for calling my attention to the Peter Norman story.]